The first day of the 2012 NBA playoffs saw two players—the Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose and the New York Knicks' Iman Shumpert—go down with season-ending knee injuries, and Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike Brown puts the blame partly on the compressed schedule that followed the lockout.

“I believe (the truncated season had something to do with the injuries), but it’s nothing medical or anything like that,” Brown said, according to NBCSports.com. “I have nowhere near the knowledge where I probably even shouldn’t be making the statement. But yeah, I think so. A shortened season, a lot of games in a short amount of time, your body changes and stuff like that, you never know. I’ve just seen a lot of injuries this whole year, and I think it probably has to do with playing a lot of games in a short amount of time.”

Lakers coach Mike Brown thinks the shortened NBA season could have played a part in knee injuries to Derrick Rose and Iman Shumpert. (AP Photo)

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, meanwhile, has had to defend himself against criticism for his decision to have Rose in the game with about a minute-and-a-half to play and the Chicago holding a 12-point lead.

Brown thinks Thibodeau’s decision was the right one.

“You’re trying to win and there was a minute and a half I think, a minute and 10 seconds left up 12, anything can happen in a short amount of time,” Brown said. “I’ve been around a few incidents where the tide has changed in less than 10 seconds, so there is a paranoia that coaches I think have. I thought what (Thibodeau) did was the right thing.”